With the increasing popularity of personal computers and especially their use in ever-increasing numbers at educational institutions and corporations has come problems of providing security against theft of these valuable but easily carried machines.
The present inventor has already suggested one security device especially adapted for small computers in his copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 573,559 filed Jan. 25, 1984, entitled SECURITY DEVICE FOR SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM. Other commercial systems are discussed briefly in that application and reference can be had to it for a discussion of the general background of this art.
While not especially adapted to small computers, many devices have been suggested for holding or locking down typewriters and like small machines. These range from the early clamps in Conde U.S. Pat. No. 497,015 issued May 9, 1893 and Throm U.S. Pat. No. 826,626, through locking frameworks such as McFarland U.S. Pat. No. 2,171,664.
The CB craze brought forth a number of suggestions for securing CB radios to automobile interiors. U.S. patents to Barding, U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,307, Daley U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,843; Reiland U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,227 and Artner U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,759 are examples.
Also general security boxes that can be fastened to an automobile or other less easily moved object have been suggested. Examples of these are U.S. patents to Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,684 and Sears U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,067.
A number of devices for securing a machine to a table top are to be found, notably Wann U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,165 (May 23, 1967); Buchman U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,172; Gassaway U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,850,392 and 3,910,079 and 4,007,613; Shontz U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,276; Bennett U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,879; Hemphill U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,282; Singer U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,879 and Raskin U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,616. This is usually accomplished by installing a bolt from the interior of the device downward. This requires disassembly of the unit to be able to remove the unit from the locking device. Alternatively, prior devices inconveniently require access to the underside of the table or desk to unlock the device and release the unit secured.
Devices requiring disassembly of a computer to remove it from the table top are undesirable because they expose complicated and delicate electrical circuitry to possible damage. Thus, despite all of these suggestions there exists the need for an easily installed and easily used security device that does not require disassembly of the computer housing to remove the unit from the device, that can adapt to a variety of table and counter tops and yet also does not materially interfere with the utility of the computer nor require the use a great deal of bench, desk or table top surface for the security device, all while providing a material deterrence to theft.